A collection of musically themed musings by Brendan Bush in Burlington, VT

With the arrival of the new year and the recent or upcoming launches of several music-related websites based in the Burlington area, I’ve been spending some time thinking about why I began writing here, and why I continue doing it.

One of the main reasons I began was to encourage more people in Burlington to go to shows. I’m still baffled sometimes at certain shows selling out, while others play to a crowd of 30 — or less. And I know from bringing friends to shows that a lot of the music I like is just categorically good, and generally folks are really happy when they come to a show with me. The only barrier seems to be their exposure to the music, which I’m trying to solve by writing here.

To make a long story short, here are some upcoming shows in Burlington and Montreal that I’m either planning on going to, or really wish I could make it to but can’t. If you like other music you’ve listened to or read about because of this site, I highly recommend going to any of them. Try one out. If you’re reading this from somewhere else, then check the venues around you for some of the bands listed below. Based on past experience, I’m almost certain you’ll be happy you did.

As this is a blog about music, I thought I’d put some together for you to listen to. If you happen to enjoy it, I highly recommend you pick up an album or two. The Villanelles album is currently available as a free (legal) download here (just click on the image at the top of the page). And the Local Natives album (one of my favorites of the year) is available for $5.99 right now from Amazon.

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But first, a quick update: life is good. Thanks to the generosity of a near-stranger, I will now be in attendance at the Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros show on Monday.

I can only hope it’s 1/10th as cool as this:

Anyhow, I’ve bought a bunch of new music in the past couple of weeks. On a friend’s recommendation I picked up Starfucker’s 2008 self-titled release. It’s pretty lightweight electro-pop with catchy hooks and danceable beats interspersed with grinding, grungy synths. I also picked up Eminem’sRecovery, Obadiah from Frazey Ford (of Be Good Tanya’s fame), Made The Harbor by VT’s own Mountain Man, More Grey Hairs from Reks (who I learned about from following Akrobatik on twitter…), Disconnect From Desire by School of Seven Bells, and downloaded SUUNS’ Zeroes EP for free, a promotion to celebrate their signing to Secretly Canadian.

While his ability to rhyme is impressive as ever, Eminem’s tired song subjects are, well, tired. Also, since he admits multiple times that his last two albums were shit, I’d love my money back for purchasing those two.

Though I have a tough time during the work day listening to music as melancholy and at times depressing as Frazey Ford’s, her voice is so captivating that it’s worth an exception. I highly recommend Obadiah.

I’m intrigued by Mountain Man, an all-female trio who met at Bennington College in southern VT. It’s way stripped down (at times a capella) folk, driven by vocal harmonies. I need to listen some more before offering anything more.